There have been many books and
articles written about the Boys, and it seems that every
part of their lives has been studied and debated - bar one.
With 2018 being the final centenary year of the Great War
commemorations, I had been researching some men who fell
during the four-year conflict, when I came across the U.S.
registration cards on the internet.

On 6 April 1917, the United States
had declared war on Germany and officially entered WW1. Six
weeks later, on 18 May 1917, the Selective Service Act was
passed, which authorized the president to increase the
military establishment of the United States. As a result,
every male living within the United States between the ages
of eighteen and forty-five was required to register for the
draft. The period of 1880-1920 was a high immigration period
to the United States. Young men were required to register
for the draft regardless of their U.S. citizenship status.
Of course, not all the men who registered actually served in
the armed forces, and there were some who enlisted and
served in the war but did not register for the draft. This
draft consisted of three separate registrations and the
first took place on June 5, 1917, for men aged twenty-one to
thirty-one - men born between 6 June 1886 and 5 June
1896.

Now one question that I have not
seen answered regarding Stan and Ollie was their role during
the Great War and did they in fact step forward to serve. I
had heard a story that Ollie had been keen to serve, but was
turned down owing to the fact he was overweight. But where
was the evidence?

So after discovering the U.S. WW1
registration documents, I decided to input the names of
Oliver Norvell Hardy and Arthur Stanley Jefferson, but
didn't expect to find anything apart from namesakes. Imagine
my surprise when I found both registrations!!! The reverse
sides of the papers are a bit difficult to read (especially
Ollie's) but they state that Ollie was 'very stout' and Stan
was 'slightly deaf.' I wonder whether these were the reasons
they never served?